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Pendulum Wars
The Pendulum Wars are a 79 year-long global conflict waged by the two superpowers of Sera, the Coalition of Ordered Governments and the Union of Independent Republics for control of the planet's natural resources including Imulsion. Millions of human lives are lost in the conflict and the environment was significantly damaged by the devastating weapons. The war was a deadlock for it's majority until the COG broke the stalemate by going around the land warfare with the UIR and staging a daring raid on Aspho Fields. The COG stole the Hammer of Dawn technology plans during the Battle of Aspho Fields and gained the advantage in the war. The Pendulum Wars ended shortly before the attack on the surface of Sera by the Locust Horde on Emergence Day with only six weeks of peace between the two wars. Gears of War: Destroyed Beauty History Pre-War events Decades before the Pendulum wars, Sera was plunged into the millennia long conflict known as the Age of Armageddon,Destroyed Beauty nearly destroying both the human race and Sera. Humanity rejected war and embraced a new era of peace, the Era of Silence, leading to a period of advancement: Arts, science and culture and all of these things prospered. But, the shortage of available energy led the planet and it's inhabitants into more problems. Imulsion, a phosphorescent and low-viscosity fluid that was discovered by an oil-exploration drill was unusable as an energy source until Dr. Helen Cooper created the Lightmass Process which enabled the refinement of Imulsion into a source of cheap energy, marking the beginning of the Gold Rush. What no one knew at the time was that Imulsion was actually a living, parasitic organism that would bring the planet to the brink of destruction one day. The full implementation of this process by most of the existing nations cemented Imulsion’s place as a new and fairly abundant energy source and led to the near-complete elimination of the hydrocarbon and nuclear-based fuel sources. However, the extremely low price of Imulsion energy and the massive loss of revenue and jobs in the traditional energy-production industries caused Sera's world economy to collapse. The few countries that discovered an abundance of Imulsion within their borders found themselves at war with the many nations who are not as fortunate and the Era of Silence ended. The Pendulum Wars began. The Rise of the COG During the seventy-nine year war, the Coalition of Ordered Governments or the COG became a legitimate and political party. Founded long before the Pendulum Wars by a fanatical socialist named Alexiy Desipich, the party was based on an obscure world-government philosophy based on eight guiding principle values: Order, Diligence, Purity, Labor, Honor, Loyalty, Faith and Humility. The COG began sending their legions of Gear soldiers out, transforming the Pendulum Wars from a conflict over Imulsion into a fight over freedoms. The Coalition overthrew many nations and incorporated them as vassal governments, accepting the volunteers to fight the UIR armies.Gears of War: Aspho Fields page 344 79 Years of War Ostri Front The Ostri front was fought 30 years before the Siege of Anvil Gate and saw the extended trench warfare. Lt.Victor Hoffman compared the fighting inside the walls of Anvil Gate to the Ostri front.Gears of War: Anvil Gate Eastern Front One of the most notorious fronts of the war, the Eastern Front saw the Duke of Tollen's Regiment of Tyrus battling the Gorasni soldiers loyal to the UIR. Several Gears are captured and sent to the Ramascu labor camp and several perished in the camp. The events of the Eastern Front and Ramascu left a great distrust for the Gorasni people among the COG citizens and Pendulum War veterans.Gears of War: Anvil Gate Kashkur Fronts Gears of War: Anvil Gate CH 17 The COG defended the Imulsion rich nation of Kashkur from the UIR nation of Furlin. The COG was able to contain and hold the Indies off until the president of Vasgar resigned shortly before a vote of no confidence. This gave the UIR the opportunity to invade Vasgar and open a second front on Kashkur, allowing the UIR to attack the infamous fortress of Anvil Gate on the southern front. While an Indie army flanked on the western border from Furlin, their aim was the city of Shavad. The COG response to the Indies sending “peacekeepers” to Vasgar was to cut all Imulsion supplies to area, hurting the Imulsion Company and putting millions of Vasgar citizens in the dark, effectively shutting the power stations and hospitals down. The operation would force the UIR to ship the supplies in from the neighboring friendly UIR nations while having to deal with a local population without a government and fuel. The only thing of military value left for the UIR in the Imulsion-starved nation would be the iron ore and vast factories in southern Vasgar if the UIR could keep the peace in the nation. The Indie troops from Furlin invaded Kashkur from two fronts: On the western border by hitting the city of Shavad and at Anvil Gate on the Vasgari border in the south. On the Vasgari-Kashkur border, the Indie sabotage effectively cutted Anvil Gate's only land route off by destroying the canyon, showing that the UIR had dozens of Special Forces in the country before the fall of the Vasgari government. An Indie soldier with an RPG in the nearby cannons was able to kill Captain Sander and several other Gears, leading Lieutenant Hoffman to request a Pesangi detachment. However, High Command was unable to deliver the fresh supplies or reinforcements since every Tern and the newly introduced King Ravens are occupied with the combat missions in Shavad. The UIR laid siege to Anvil Gate where the COG with a handful of Pesangi commandos defended the Gate from the overwhelming forces. The siege lasted for three months and the fort was reduced to rubble from the continuous Mortar attacks. Hoffman's Pesangi troopers are able to kill several Indie spotters in the hills, but with a lack of food and growing unrest, Hoffman was forced to face the facts on the ground. He realized that Anvil Gate and the garrison could not last any longer, but fortunately for Hoffman, the Indie Major allowed the civilian population to evacuate the garrison if the COG surrendered. Hoffman took the only option that he had left and ordered the surrender of Anvil Gate to the Indies, but Hoffman's surrender was merely a ruse. He planned to entrap the Indies in the old quarter of the city and catch them unawares. The plan worked and over 200 Indie soldiers are killed, though the Gears suffered from many casualties as well. The victory at Anvil Gate allowed the COG to hold the southern pass and launched Major Hoffman's career. Indie invasion of Irohma island Four years before E-Day, the UIR attacked Irohma Island, defeating the local population. The elements of the 26th Royal Tyran infantry landed on the island and ended up recruiting a local. Quiet Front For ten years, the Gears and Indie soldiers located on the two guard posts never exchanged fire for ten years. A gunner named Evan while stationed at Anvil Gate would recount the anomaly. Sarfuth front Since 17 B.E., the UIR and COG fought for control over the nation of Sarfuth. While neutral Maranday stopped any outright invasion by the two superpowers, the UIR was amassing the forces in the Republic of Lauczi to attack Sarfuth. The COG forces decided to take an Indie strategy and used Maranday's neutrality to launch a daring raid into the Indie territory. The raid was successful and the COG forces are able to use their air force and take the advancing Indie army out at the Maigar Pass.Gear of War: Unseen Around 3 years before E-Day, the Indie saboteurs are operating from neutral Maranday to attack Sarfuth's Imulsion pipelines while the members of the 26th Royal Tyran infantry defended the areas and killed at least one saboteur.Gears of War: Aspho Fields pg 95-107 Operation Leveler The climax of the war was at Aspho Fields with Operation Leveler. The COG forces discovered that the Indies at Aspho Point won the arms race for the orbital weapons. The COG could not allow the UIR to have an advantage in the war so they prepared for a daring raid by mobilizing the 26th Royal Tyran Infantry and Navy in an amphibious assault on the Ostri coast. The 26 RTI attacked the Ostri troops at Aspho Fields while the commando detachment under Maj. Hoffman raided Aspho Point. The Indie forces inflicted heavy losses on the COG, but the COG managed to accomplish their mission and evacuated from Ostri.Gears of War: Aspho Fields The operation had the largest number of Embry Star recipients in Coalition history. Coalition Victory After the raid at Aspho Point and the Battle of Aspho Fields, the COG would battle the UIR for another two years by losing thirty-thousand soldiers. Adam Fenix used the stolen Hammer of Dawn technology to create the satellite-based weapons for the COG. For his efforts, Chairman Tomas Dalyell awarded him the Octus Medal.http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/116/1168340p1.html The COG forces are able to advance into both Furlin and Ostri.Gears of War: Promise Me On the coastal city of Bonbourg, the COG occupied the city, but the UIR Third Fleet bombarded the city until the COG unleashed their newest weapon, the Hammer of Dawn. The Hammer destroyed the five Indie ships and forced the fleet to withdraw. While in Furlin, the Indie troops battled in Ghato City and around several cliffs. After the Hammer strikes on the Indie fleet, Premier Yori Deschenko entered into negotiations with the COG and the UIR surrendered. Despite this, some UIR units continued to fight, believing that the surrender was COG propaganda while the Gorasni would continue a guerrilla war.Gears of War: Promise MeGears of War: Jacinto's Remnant Mutiny at OZP-11 Following the announcement of the peace negotiations, Premier Yori Deschenko sent Major Girek Toly to OZP-11, a UIR cosmodrome built in occupied Vasgar to oversee the dismantling of the functional Hammer of Dawn satellites built by the UIR. Shortly after Toly's arrival, the commander of the Gorasni troops stationed in Vasgar, Major Garron Paduk was tasked by the High Council of Gorasnaya with taking OZP-11 in order to launch the satellites and execute a retaliation strike in response for the defeat at Bonbourg. As the reports of violence between the UIR troops reached Toly, he reinforced the cosmodrome garrison with a brigade of hand-picked soldiers and soon after, Paduk's troops laid siege to the base. Toly ordered his men to infect the cosmodrome's computers with a semi-sentient malware in order to prevent the rebels from launching the satellites. After 3 days of brutal fighting, both sides suffered from heavy causalities and as the rebels are close to acquiring the Hammer of Dawn targeting beacons, the COG forces dropped a Lightmass Missile on the facility, killing or wounding nearly all belligerents and stopping the mutineers from achieving their goal, preventing the launch of the UIR Hammer of Dawn satellites and continuation of the Pendulum Wars. Naval Warfare The COG's armed forces revolved around it's Army branch until the Battle of Aspho Fields. Their Special Forces and Navy are given less attention, though Adam Fenix argued that the Navy and Air Corps must be expanded.Gears of War: Aspho Fields The COG Navy contained the battleships in the early years of the Pendulum Wars and had a diverse range of ships including the destroyers, submarines and helicopter carriers.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 274Two years before E-Day, the COG Navy attacked and leveled Berephus and Bonbourg while the LCTs landed on Aspho Fields.Gears of War: Aspho Fields The UIR Navy along with the Gorasni Navy had submarines and missile frigates that are able to survive the Pendulum Wars and Locust War.Gears of War: Jacinto’s RemnantGears of War: Anvil Gate During the Pendulum Wars, the UIR had the Tennad sailors use suicide submarines against the COG.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 366 Around the Serano Ocean, the UIR submarines preyed on the COG Merchant Fleet forcing them to form convoys projected by the NCOG.Gears of War: Coalition's End pg 60 Aftermath After the final battle of the war, the COG and UIR signed an armistice ending the war in the COG's favor.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 375 The COG replaced several Indie nation governments with pro-coalition governments including Pelles and Ostri Republic which are under the administration of Premier Yori Deschenko. Some Indie nations refused to surrender and launched an insurgency which was the infamous Republic of Gorasnaya.Gears of War: Jacintos' Remnant pg 380 The Day of the Fallen holiday was created to celebrate the fallen Gear soldiers.Gears of War: Anvil Gate pg 318 For six weeks, the COG ruled almost all of Sera before Emergence Day.Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant pg 124 Just as they started to rebuild the cities and towns that are destroyed and fix the international relations with the UIR nations who are still fighting against the COG, an unidentified enemy that would come to be known as the Locust Horde emerged from the underground warrens of Sera and launched a planet-wide invasion of the surface. The COG was unable to hold back the Horde, losing all of what they gained in the 79-year Pendulum Wars. However, the COG war machine was able to mobilize from the Pendulum Wars allowing them to quickly regroup and counter the Locust during E-Day, resulting in a new long war of extermination. 15 years after E-Day, the survivors of the Republic of Gorasnaya joined the COG for protection from the Locust before the Lambent Pandemic forced the COG to disband and caused the Gorasni to leave the coalition. However, the Gorasni remained allies with the remnants of the COG, saying that while they remembered their grudges, they also remembered kindness and those that are their allies, coming to the aid of the COG remnants during the Second Battle of Azura where Adam Fenix destroyed the Locust and the Lambent with an Imulsion-targeting weapon, bringing peace to Sera once again. Legacy A lesser observed effect of the Pendulum Wars was significant damage inflicted upon Sera's environment. While Imulsion was cleaner than the traditional energy sources, it's large-scale exploitation by the massive war machines of Sera polluted the planet's soil, oceans and air. This caused the rampant cases of Rustlung in the humans during and after the Wars and would eventually contribute to the Lambent Epidemic as many are at least marginally exposed to Imulsion. The battles of the Pendulum Wars scared many regions of Sera. Both the COG and UIR committed serious human rights abuses in depriving the civilians of the natural resources. All of these factors began to change Sera's larger climate as HMT Magazine reported a noticeable increase in the catastrophic hurricane storms in the later years of the Pendulum Wars. While tragic, this environmental degradation would be pale in comparison to the subsequent Locust War which nearly rendered Sera lifeless. Quotes Behind the Scenes The Pendulum Wars may be named after the Pendulum which was a weight suspended from a pivot so it could swing freely. It was most likely a representation of the war and it's stalemate until the Battle of Aspho Fields. It could also be suggested that it was a reference to the number of machine-related names in the Gears of War universe. References Category:Wars Category:Events